Interview with The Williams Team

Nald Guevarrainterviews, Partner Calls, Xpansion


 “Our success is determined by us and our ability to work hard and work smart.” — Carter Williams

On Friday’s partner call, Xperience CEO Chris Suarez welcomed The Williams Team from Austin, Texas led by Kristen and Carter Williams. This team is serious about production and heart. In 2018, they closed more than 100 units, $35 million in volume and generated $1 million GCI.Kristen and Carter met while working at GSD&M, the Austin based advertising giant where they worked on client accounts such as BMW and AT&T. In 2006, Kristen stepped out of GSD&M to launch her career in real estate. While Kristen and Carter were only dating, they lived off of Carter’s salary for Kristen’s career move.When asked why he was willing to take the gamble, Carter said it didn’t seem like a gamble due to Kristen’s work ethic. “I knew that anything she put her mind to, she would be successful,” Carter said.When Kristen first entered real estate, she was Rookie of the Year for Austin. Kristen shared something she learned from Gary Keller who taught Quantum Leap shortly after she got her license. Success in this business is directly tied to the number of people who think of you when they think of real estate.Build relationships. So, she started with a database and built the business from that.Carter started his real estate career in 2010 on the commercial side of the business. He believes that it was  valuable to start during a time when the economy was not strong. “There was value to learn how to cut it when there are things stacked against you,” Carter said. A few years later, Carter joined the business Kristen was building.Here are the three keys to their success in their words:

  • The relationships we have built — we have found advocates, people who will tell our story as real estate professionals.

  • We create great experiences for our clients by making being in business with us fun which leads to lots of repeat business and referrals.

  • We make it a point to tell our clients how we advocate for them so that they have full faith that we will take the best darn care of them.

Kristen reminded Xperience Partners that it’s important to think like a business owner not like a Realtor.When asked about their biggest failures, Kristen jumped in. “I took too long to hire an assistant, to hire a coach, to buy-in to leverage, to use other people, to succeed through others. This stopped me from hitting a higher level of success earlier on.”Chris Suarez mentioned early on in the interview that they are a team with heart. He circled back to how their personal commitment to their community ties directly to Xperience’s mission, vision and values. Carter serves Special Olympics as a Competition Director. Their team both mentors and funds a recipient of a Foster Angels Scholarship. Kristen is a leader in The Junior League of Austin.“We love to give back because we are blessed so much and want to share with others,” Kristen said.Why did The Williams Team partner with Xperience? They shared this:“There are business challenges we are looking to solve. We are hitting a ceiling…There is natural alignment that makes sense. We see how Xperience can solve a lot of the business challenges we face.”“We also see leadership opportunities. There is a clear path of how we can give back to Xperience.”“Culturally, we were living the Xperience culture prior to being a part of it. How we chose to live our life and how the people around us live their lives. It was an easy yes.”Click here to read more about The Williams Team’s partnership with Xperience.